Last Man Off

Few crews are brave enough to risk their lives fishing on the Southern Ocean. Fewer still get caught out by the decision, and have their boat sink from underneath them.

In 1998, the Sudur Havid was fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean when she hit trouble and sank. Her 38 crew abandoned to liferafts with little time to prepare, in failing light and atrocious weather, not knowing whether rescue was on its way.

Matt, the scientist working on the Sudur Havid that day, tells the story in Last Man Off.

“For his compelling account of the hardships of fishing in remote Antarctic waters, and of what it means to abandon ship in a severe storm with inadequate equipment and a crew unprepared for survival. The book is objective but non-judgmental in its descriptiveness, so heightening the true sense of disaster. The style makes the book accessible to a wide public, but it is also essential reading for seafarers, fishermen and yachtsmen, as it concerns attitudes to safety and survival. A truly life-affirming and influential work.”